The Portland daily press., 1887-07-07
LOYALTY AND THE FLAG.
Sentiments OF Stalwart Patriotism In
Fourth of July Grafton.

Congressman Boutelle at Lincoln.]
have feared, sometimes, that the impress
siye lessons taught by the burrows Of the
great breaking-up plow Of war would be-
come lobliterated, like ripples upon the
water, gradually receding until at last they
disappeared. This granite memorial gives
me reinsurance. Not only this. but the fact
that / have gladly welcomed during the last
two or three months, these object-lessons Of
patriotism and loyalty are multiplying them
selves all over the North.
| wish to call to your minds the lesson
without which the inscriptions ON yonder
monument to patriotism and yalor would be
"as sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.'
We are not here TO cherish animosties-
to call up bitterness-we come here to claim
that they fought for cause that was holy
and against cause which was wrong. If
we would transmit anything TO our children
which will be worth remembering, we should
paint Rebellion as black as in 1861. CHEERS
We rejoice in restored nationality. In q
reunited country, but at the same time we
abate not one jot or little of our hatred to
the great wrong that led to such sacrifice
We owe it to ourselves and to the men that
we conquered in their wrong doing, and to
their posterity, to show them that diSloyalty
and rebellion are to be avoided as crimes
which nearly ruined the country we rejoice
in to-day. / cannot feel, as do some of my
countrymen, that every kind of a memorial
every sort or kind of a symbol of the great
conflict which has appeared throughout the
country is equally praiseworthy a. such a
monument as this.
Men think it harsh to use today the terms
used in 1861; terms used by Abraham Lin
coin are too severe today. Is it true that the
raising Of parricidal hand is any less obi
GUS today than 1t was thirty years ago
(Applause). We are told that we must not
refer to Gen. Lee as an apostate; must not
criticise the Chief of the Army of Virginia; !;
he was not a traitor, he believed he was
right" Was he right when doing what if
he had been private soldier, helwOuld have
been shot for, on his own coffin? | want to
ask any man, today, who undertakes TO
teach me this new doctrine, that those who
fought to destroy this country were equally
right with those who fought to preserve it,
do you want to teach that to the boys who
are in our government military schools today?
Are you willing that they should turn out
and fight the country which has placed them
there? You are bunting the public con-
science, deadening the sense Of honor in the
youth.
We must see to it that the public con-
science is kept alive. While we open the
door freely, generously, literally, they must
not drag in with them the attempt to make
us condone the great crime against humani-
ty. There never has been a period in the
worlds history when the kindly impulses of
men have not been used 70 accomplish evil.
For q number Of years portion Of the peo-
pie OF this country, well-meaning, honest,
have conceived the idea that we should be so
magnanimous, generous, liberal, charitable,
that we should talk charitably about rebel
lion itself. 1t is q great mistake. Evil
sh9s should be denounced las. well as right up
In 1876, the one hundredth anniversary Of
our Nations Independence, amid the glow Of
the centennial era, the spirit of fraternity
was strong and the feeling Of generosity
reached point where it not only seemed
necessary to kill the fatted calf, but to turn
the whole family out to give the returned
prodigal full swing. At that time was writ
ten poem. very seductive, very pleasant.
very fraternizing, written with very best in
tentions, conceived in kindness, breathing
the utmost catholicity, but which proved to
be mischievous in its tendency TO obliterate
the distinction between right and wrong.
Misehlevous in causing men who had been
convinced that they were wrong, that they
were Just as right as the other side. No
matter which side they were on, "roses for
the blue and lilies for the gray there were
chanting the praises of both; "under the
roses the blue, under the lilies the gray
When | read that poem thought it would
be misleading never believed it to be a
part OF our duty to take in the gray: |
man, woman and child who who is now loval
to our country, but they must take off the
colors Of slavery and rebellion. Zap
plause.
We have no right to give away a single
point that was won in our victory over Sc
cession. Not memorial of that triumph
should be blotted out, not single emblem
OF that victory, not a bloody battle flag
showing the heroism of our own brave BOYS
in defending our Nation and overthrowing
its enemies should be removed from the
place where the Nation accepted them from
the hands of its valorous defenders. Where
is the man or men with the arrogance to say
that those banners belong to him or them /?
| indulge in no imprecations, there is no
need Of maledictions, but He who led the
lsraelites out Of captivity; the God TO whom
Washington prayed before the battle: whose
favor was invoked by Abraham Lincoln
when he sm0te the shackles from four mil
lions of Gods children; who guided Farra-
gut through the fiery gates to victory; who
sustained Grant in the Wilderness and
blessed him and his country's cause at Ap-
pomattox, will not, believe. permit the Wis
ible tokens to be removed. The flags must
stay! IApplause.l Not in the dust Of some
obscure attic or cellar in Washington, but in
accordance with benign law must be dis
played to teach the lesson they so eloquently
impart.